The Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky was the third largest of 19 Shaker Communities in the 1800s. The Shakers engaged in many economic activities to support their community. At this Kentucky village, the Shakers produced and sold brooms, fruit preserves, garden seeds, and herbs for home use and the medical market. They were innovators in farming techniques and animal breeding and sold superior purebred livestock. In addition to milling grain (pictured above), they also operated a linseed oil milling and a fulling mill.
The Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky was established in 1805. Around 500 people resided in the village in the 1820s and the community owned over 4,000 acres of land. Due to declining membership and economic changes in the wider world, 1910, Pleasant Hill closed as an active religious society. The last Shaker, Sister Mary Settles died in 1923. The land, buildings, and furnishings passed into private hands. In 1961, a private nonprofit organization, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, was founded to restore the historic property and today, Pleasant Hill is the largest restored Shaker village offering a hotel, restaurant, and many activities.
Image courtesy of Archives of Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky
Image featured in Discovering Quacks, Utopias, and Cemeteries: Modern Lessons from Historical Themes by Cynthia Resor
I could use this image in a lesson about the Shakers in a 4th-grade classroom. Since I live in Kentucky, this would be perfect to teach the history of our state and showcase locations near their homes.